Anyone reading these pages knows how important it is to help out our local bands! Well, for this edition of The World Of Rock, I've called on Trish and Nik of The Virginia Metal Alliance to see what all goes on in their world. They'll tell us about what all they do and go through while helping out the metal bands of Virginia!
Enjoy...
D-Day: Were you with the Virginia Metal Alliance from the beginning?
TRISH: Nik is the one that came up with the big idea for the alliance. Shortly after, he proposed it to me and asked if I would assist him, I was excited about the plan and jumped on board, knowing my previous skills with booking and web design would help out a great bit and I really enjoy helping others when I can.
D-Day: What got you started?
NIK: Ive played in bands most of my life and I know what a pain in the ass it is to book shows, so I just wanted to help local bands out with booking and anything else I could think of.
TRISH: Well to be honest Nik's enthusiasm on the whole thing struck me like a magnet, there were so many ideas and endless possibilities with this project that I couldnt let it pass me by and of course I love METAL!
Also I have been around local bands since age 16, I had also managed a band and booked in the past but I took a break to acquire a better foundation and people to work with.
D-Day: What are your main ways to help promote bands?
TRISH: We do everything that pops into our little brains such as post countless bulletins on myspace which do get attention and helps the bands we've heard, also we have a HUGE list of all the VA metal bands we could find linked from our myspace. We do written interviews and not to long ago we started doing video interviews, where we talk with the bands and fuse the live footage we shoot with the rest of the interview, it takes a lot of time but the end result is awesome. Another thing is we try to send our local VA bands to international interviewers and other metal alliances, In Death I Become (http://myspace.com/idib) has done a couple great international interviews this year. And of course we try to put on great shows for the bands to enjoy, usually here in Richmond.
D-Day: Do you also stretch beyond the borders to West VA, Maryland etc. in search for bands or stay strictly in VA?
NIK: We have done shows with out of state bands which have turned out good in the past but we really want to focuse on Virginia as a whole.
TRISH: Yeah I think its important right now to build a foot to stand on here before we start branching out to other bands. Plus theres a helluva lot of VA bands that could use our help and attention and to be honest theres a lot of out of town bands that demand a much larger cut of the money when the crowd is there for the locals and I dont think its always fair to take that all away from them nor do I feel comfortable doing so.
D-Day: I know you wouldn't want to single out certain bands as being favorites... but have you experienced some sort of "feel good story" yet; as far as seeing a band that you've been involved with start getting a little more attention or perhaps signed?
TRISH: Well Ive definately seen bands get alittle more attention because of the metal alliance promoting them but here recently one of our favorite bands to work with has had a contract offer that we're both excited about, and thats all I can say on that. But I do have favorites (most people do) im not going to hide that, but I always try to help every band equally. Getting alittle off subject here but we never mean to slight bands and if so we have taken reponsibility and apologized. We book shows on how we think will bring people and on how the show should "flow", I think we do the best we can and usually get great results.
D-Day: Do you actually have a group of bands that you would consider "under your umbrella"? Or do you search for Virginia bands to promote as a group not directly involved, but as an outside group helping those bands?
NIK: We'd like to thank every band in Virginia that considers themself apart of the alliance but there are other bookers out there and we support what they do aswell.
Soon we will be widening our horizons and expanding into band management and hopefully that will bring a few great bands under the Virginia Metal Alliance "umbrella".
TRISH: Theres no one band that books directly with the VMA, even if we managed bands we wouldnt stop them from playing non-VMA shows, just may be more selective because we appreciate what other bookers do. On another note, there are certainly bands that have their more preferred bookers and there our some bands that we feel more comfortable booking just because we know how everything goes, but we take risks all the time and in the past handful of months we've really tried to incorporate 2 or 3 + different bands every show, and for the most part we've found it exciting to see what they can do plus have met some damn good people such as Rotgut (http://www.myspace.com/rotgutrocks1), who we met for the first time at our last show. Great bands and great attitudes is what is all about!
D-Day: What's the funnest part about what you do?
TRISH: Well theres many fun parts about interacting with bands that you love, but what I most like to see is the bands in any success they may have because of what we do, feels like a job well done. We work what seems like 24/7 but its a way of life at least for me. Being around music and bands most my life, its almost like family and its where I feel like I should be. Music is life and without it you feel empty.
D-Day: Do you also witness many disappointments?
TRISH: I cant say many disappointments but there are a few, such as negativity from bands towards anyone that trys to help the scene, I have to say I dont understand that but fortunatly I dont see to many bands that fall into that catagory. There have been a couple unsuccessful shows that were disappointing but we try to make the best of it, and have done so in the past.
D-Day: What advice would you give others wanting to start a group such as VMA for other states?
NIK: Dont be limited. Give the new bands a chance. Support Metal.
TRISH: Anyone that does what we do will tell you that its hard work, you have to be dedicated and believe in what you are doing. Also always keep things fresh and new so nothing plays out, it keeps people coming back for more.
D-Day: Thank you for speaking with us! Any final words for the fans? Please leave your links as well.
NIK: We just want bands to know that were out there busting our ass for them and the Virginia Metal Alliance is not just one person but 3 (Nik,Trish, and Jo) and we will look foward to doing great shows and hopefully meeting a lot of new bands.
TRISH: Metal is fun and exhilerating, who wouldnt want to be around that? Come out to the local metal shows and always support the bands and the people who love promoting them! We thank everyone for making the Virginia Metal Alliance possible.
This is where I do my plugs- to some of the bands that have made my job worth while and put on a great show for us, Id love to thank Choke Chain, Bleed, Unknown, Behelmod, Property, In Death I Become, Dark Alliance, Cult of Discordia, Construkt, Serial Audiophile, Monolith, Sprawl, Southern Vein, Diabase, Nekrist...theres so many more and im sorry if I cant think of everyone at the moment. Also many thanks to Will & the staff of Rocks (http://myspace.com/rockspromo) for letting us and the bands have a great time there. If you need some support contact us at http://myspace.com/virginiametalalliance and we'll see what we can do!
There you go folks! Be sure to check out Trish, Nik and The Va Metal Alliance!
